So Far, ‘Millennium Fever’ Gets the Cold Shoulder

It takes a certain kind of person to look at the millennium and see ennui. And it appears that we, fellow travel-industry consumers, are that kind of person.

As Dec. 31 nears, more and more travel industry veterans are acknowledging that instead of a pile of profits, the great click-over has become something more problematic and less profitable. Whether deterred by high prices, tethered to their workplaces by bosses’ orders or just reluctant to leave home, American consumers have been slower to embrace millennium travel than many businesses expected.

“It appears to be the bust of the century,” said David Herbert, president of the tour operator African Travel in Glendale. “Next time we’ll get it right.”

Many tour operators, hoteliers and cruise companies are reducing restrictions and offering new discounts to fill empty spots. Travel agents say that as consumers cancel reservations, airline seats seem more available than they did just a few weeks ago. And every day, agents receive announcements of late-breaking discounts and relaxed restrictions, they say.

Sometimes the changes have more to do with length of stay than with daily rates. The Renaissance Esmeralda Resort at Indian Wells (telephone [800] 552-4386)--where resident manager Donna Collings reports that 40% of its 560 rooms are still unspoken for on New Year’s Eve--has whittled the $1,640-per-room, four-night minimum to two nights at $820. (Deposit requirements and refund terms have been eased as well.) Similarly, at L’Auberge del Mar in Del Mar (tel. [800] 249-2045), a three-night, $1,650-per-room package has evolved into two nights at $999.

Before you go looking for deals at your favorite places, remember that, industry projections aside, New Year’s has long been a period of high demand for leisure travel and that availability for some destinations, notably Las Vegas in this region, is tight. For instance, the best Vegas millennium hotel deal that broker Hotel Reservations Network could find last week was three nights at the modest Circus Circus for $279 per night.

Still, the big picture is a scene of reduced expectations and late discounts. Eager to win customers, many cruise companies and hoteliers have reconsidered the restrictions and profit-boosting requirements they first attached to their millennium products.

“People were put off by the fact that they couldn’t get [cancellation] insurance and that they had to pay so much in advance,” said Shelley Navarro, a travel agent at Skytours in San Francisco. “People just weren’t willing to commit to something like that.”

Officials at the Aston hotel chain in Hawaii seem to have reached the same conclusion. On Nov. 2, the chain (tel. [800] 922-7866) announced it was abandoning its five-night minimum for millennial stays and trimming its 90-day prepayment requirement to 30 days. Aston operates 32 condo resorts and hotels on four Hawaiian islands.

For consumers, all this backpedaling presents some possibilities. One, of course, is to stay home and cackle at the trouble some companies have brought upon themselves. An August poll by the Travel Industry Assn. of America found that three in four Americans will follow this strategy--at least, the staying home part.

The second consumer option is to capitalize on industry desperation by booking a trip for Christmas or in early January, for which demand has been weak. That may be where you’ll find the deepest discounts this winter.

But if you’re still intrigued by the idea of a New Year’s Eve away from home, you can consider millennial scavenging. Or, if you made your reservation months ago, call back to see if new customers are getting a better deal. There’s probably nothing illegal about lowering prices--consider that airlines constantly change prices in response to demand--but if you complain forcefully, you might be able to extract better terms.

Here’s a sampling of offerings:

* A big inventory prompted Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays (tel. [800] 242-9244) to offer a $349-and-up, double-occupancy special: one night in Waikiki at an Outrigger hotel and air fare from L.A. As of Nov. 4, Pleasant Hawaiian vice president Karen Schulz Hughes estimated, the company had 200 of the one-night specials to sell (the flight, on America Trans Air, will feature various millennial festivities and prize offers), and almost as many seven-night packages. The seven-night deal, previously about $850, includes round-trip air to Hawaii and a week at an Outrigger hotel, beginning Dec. 31, for $499 and up.

* By Nov. 4, Princess Cruises (tel. [800] 421-0522) had “virtually sold out” six ships but had scores of unsold cabins on three two-week millennium cruises, a spokeswoman said. The Pacific Princess (with a 14-day itinerary from Istanbul, Turkey, to Athens scheduled over New Year’s Eve) was 25% unsold, with discounted fares dipping as low as $2,999 (down from a brochure price of $6,018 and a previous discount price of $3,499). The Royal Princess (16-day itinerary from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile) also had 25% of millennium cabins unsold and discount fares as low as $2,999 (down from a brochure price of $8,210 and a previous discount price of $4,480). The Sky Princess (16-day itinerary from Sydney, Australia, to Auckland, New Zealand) was 10% unsold, with specials starting at $3,799 (down from a brochure price of $6,790 and a previous discount price of $3,999).

* Since late September, Sofitel, Novotel and Mercure hotels in 13 European countries--180 hotels in all--have been offering deep discounts. Those hotels say they’ll knock 50% off their brochure rates on the nights of Dec. 31, Jan. 1 and Jan. 2. Some may have sold out by now, but at least one, the Sofitel Brussels Hotel Astoria, has adopted even larger discounts, dropping some rooms from $363 nightly (the brochure figure) to $139. More information is available through parent company Accor’s reservation system, tel. (800) 221-4542.

Christopher Reynolds welcomes comments and suggestions, but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053, or send e-mail to chris.reynolds@latimes.com.